In the city

October 5, 2012:

Art

Inspired by Sanskrit

Spandan, a solo art exhibition by Sangeeta Singh is an ensemble that comprises more than 30 of her recent works including oil on canvas, on paper and a few installation. Spandan is a Sanskrit word meaning heartbeat and befits the ethos of the finely painted and beautifully executed art works in the exhibition that please the eye and touch the heart. The exhibition is curated by arts adviser Sushma K Bahl with Archana B Sapra. Venue: Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Center till October 7. Time: 11am to 8pm.

Kokyo Hatanaka, a Japanese professional artist and art researcher will exhibit Nihonga paintings. Nihonga is an art form which makes use of hard to use rough structured natural pigments. To fix paint to a surface one can make either use of a water based, oil based or tempera based, a kind of mayonnaise formed by a mix of oil and egg, solvent to dissolve pigments however for Nihonga a water based kind of animality glue is being used. As Nihonga doesn’t have the varnish coating like most of European paintings the pigments are exposed directly to the air, requiring the need for delicate handling and maintenance.

However looking at Nihonga under refracting light, one can see the beauty of natural pigments sparkling brightly, reflecting the light like gemstones, a beauty of colours that cannot be accomplished by fine grained chemically produced pigments. Venue: AIFACS Gallery, 1 Rafi Marg from October 9 to 31.Time: 10am to 7pm.Light and Shadow

Kaleidoscope, a group exhibition of paintings curated by Priyanka Banerjee is presented by SEEMS (Bringing Colours & Happiness). The exhibition attempts to bring different thoughts of different artists under one roof. It combines realism and abstractionism, dark and light hues and above all, a mastery of light and shadow. It promotes emerging artists by focusing on the contemporary Indian art and celebrating its diversity. Venue: Ashok Hotel till October 7. Time: 11am to 7pm.

Photography

New India

Matter, a series of new works by photographer Bharat Sikka, features a series of images in a variety of formats that blend studio, street, landscape and portrait photography into an image of the “new” India. With rapid change brought on by globalisation, India is searching for its identity – trying on new ones and uneasily inhabiting traditional ones. Sikka’s images explore this identity from his own very personal perspective. Venue: Gallery Nature Morte from October 7–27. Time: 10:00am– 6:00 pm (Sunday closed).Health concerns

Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) presents Asia’s biggest fashion and trade event, the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) Spring Summer 2013. The much-awaited 20th edition of WIFW SS ’13 will provide an outstanding platform for information exchange and trend preview for the forthcoming season. This season will bring on ramp, an eclectic mix of leading and young designers from India, who will showcase the exquisite collection to domestic and international buyers, media, and fashion connoisseurs. The event further provides the fraternity insights and forecasts on fashion trends. Venue: Hall No.18, Pragati Maidan from October 6 to 10.

NE celebration

Director of Welfare of Plain Tribes and backward classes, Government of Assam has organised a festival ‘Celebrating The North–East’ which has exhibitions, fashion and musical performances. Venue: Dilli Haat, INA till October 9. Time: 11am - 7pm.

Dance

Dance Collage

Lovers of classical dance can look forward to the five-day long ‘Ananya Dance Festival 2012’. The festival will feature specially designed group choreographies that light up the majestic Purana Qila every year. The event which is in its 11th year will have performance by known artists like Saroja Vaidyanathan, Rani Karnaa, Vijaylakshmi (Mohiniattam) and Rudrakshya Dance Company (Odissi) to name a few. Venue: Purana Quila, Mathura Road from October 6-10. Time: 7pm - 8.30 pm. Entry is free.

Avatars of Durga

Mera Jeevan Teri Sharan..., a dance recital will be presented as an ode to Goddess Durga, showcasing her many forms and episodes through Bharatanatyam compositions. The recital will be performed by Rashika Ojha Abrol, a disciple of Saroja Vaidyanathan and her disciples. Venue: Epicentre, Gurgaon on October 7. Time: 7.30pm.Ace fusion

A dance performance ‘The voice of the body’ by Ravi Prasad (musician and composer from Kerala, living in France) and Mónica de la Fuente (actress, dancer and choreographer specialised in scenic arts of India) will represent an invisible thread that weaves two bodies on the stage, vibrating in the same tune. The breathing becomes sound, voice and song, movement, gesture and mudra. The recital will deeply search for the seed that provokes every emotion and explores the connections between voice and body. Venue: Auditorium, Instituto Cervantes on October 9. Time: 7pm. Entry is free.

Kuchipudi recital

Hithaishy Dhanan from Bengaluru, a disciple of Vyjayanthi Kashi and Uma Muralikrishna will present a Kuchipudi recital. Venue: IIC on October 8. Time: 6.30pm. Films

Friendship films

The third Friendship Film Festival (FFF) of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will screen 24 films from seven countries. Psychological drama House of the Wind by Russian director Vyacheslav Zlatopolsky will open the festival. Delhi audience will also see famous films of latest five years from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Armenia and Belarus. Venue: Russian Centre of Science and Culture (RCSC) from October 8–13. Time: 6pm onwards.

Coming out

Mine Vaganti (Loose Cannons) directed by Italian filmmaker Ferzan Ozpetek revolves around Tommaso Cantone, who is the youngest son of a large, traditional southern Italian family operating a pasta-making business since 1960. On a trip home from Rome, where he studies literature and lives with his boyfriend, Tommaso decides to tell his parents the truth about himself. But when he is finally ready to come out in front of the entire family, his older brother Antonio ruins his plans. Venue: Italian Embassy Cultural Institute on October 6. Time: 2pm. First cut

The 'First Cut' project is a filmmaker's delight. There will be screening of shorts made by independent as well as mainstream film makers from all over the country. ‘First Cut’ wishes to give filmmakers the first chance to screen their most recent work. Venue: Habitat World, India Habitat Centre, October 7. Time: 7 pm onwards.

DRAMA

Basic comedy

Ticket to Heaven, an English play directed by Saleem Shah is a story of a chance meeting that takes place between a conman Munna, a sex-starved wife, Sandra and her god-fearing husband, Ronnie. In their quest for love, sex, lust and faith, the trio reach the gates of heaven! What happens then? Find out in this bold, hilarious farce on today’s generation. Venue: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium, Alliance Francaise on October 7. Time: 5pm and 7pm.Fo’s classic replayed

Saksham Theatre presents Accidental Death of Anarchist, a Hindi play based on Dario Fo’s classic. Adapted in Hindi by Amitabh Srivastava, the play is a farce based on events involving a real person, Giuseppe Pinelli, who fell - or was thrown - from the fourth floor window of a Milan police station in 1969. He was accused of bombing a bank (the Piazza Fontana bombing). The events of the play itself, however, are fictional and target the corruption in politics. Venue: Akshara Theatre, 11-12 B, Baba Kharak Singh Marg on October 6 and 7. Time: 7.30pm.

Comedy kicks

CETA presents Kidney ki Hay Hay, Lungs Lachar, an English play. A warm and yet full of dramebaazi style of comedy from CETA in which there is a father who believes he is ill-forever, a glamorous second wife, a couple of Dramebaaz-Doctors, a daughter, second-wife’s boyfriends – including a notary and an-out-of-the-world son of a doctor who is both a doctor and stupid. But who is this naukrani? And why is she there? What does she want? Check it out.Venue: Amphitheatre, IHC on October 6. Time: 7pm.Societal status

Mitr Cultural Society presents Jaati Hi Pucho Sadhu Ki, a Hindi play directed by Anil Sharma. The play is a Vijay Tendulkar classic and narrates the story of Mahipat, a youngster who manages to pass M.A. and fulfill his childhood dream of becoming a professor despite his underprivileged background. Barely settling into his job, he realises that he may have to lose it because of his caste. He decides to fight back using various means, some fair and some not so fair. Venue: Shri Ram Center on October 5. Time: 7pm.Music

Those who love Adnan Sami can look forward to a treat as the singer will perform live. British-born Pakistani Canadian singer, musician, pianist, actor and composer, Adnan Sami’s style is a combination of Asian and Western music styles and instrumentation and ranges from classical to jazz and modern pop-rock. He is also known for popular tracks in Bollywood films.Venue: Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon on October 6. Time: 8pm.